


The Songbirds Keep Singing

by questceque_cest



Category: Glee
Genre: Accidents, Canon Compliant, Car Accidents, F/F, Female Friendship, Injury, Spring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-31
Updated: 2012-03-31
Packaged: 2017-11-02 19:58:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/questceque_cest/pseuds/questceque_cest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post "On My Way", Santana visits Quinn a couple weeks after her car accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Songbirds Keep Singing

**Author's Note:**

> For Snix, my enabler.

The mid-afternoon sun was bright as it streamed into the Fabray household.  White venetian blinds were half opened and swayed against the windowsill, moving gently against the unseasonably warm March breeze. Robins sang faint songs of welcome for the early spring. A strong gust of wind blew against the house, the blinds crashed against the windowpane.  
  
Quinn’s eyes burst open, her heart knocking against her chest.  She squinted at the dazzling light that glinted off of the precious tiaras adorning the room.  The mint blue walls surrounding her seemed both familiar and strange.  She groaned as she used her unbroken right arm to position herself upright. __  
  
Must have dozed off, thought Quinn. It was a miracle she had gotten any sleep given her current condition.  Since the accident, when she wasn’t in physical pain from severe trauma, Quinn was in mental anguish.  The day of the crash seemed like a dream -- or nightmare; a complete blur.  Fragments of images played out her mind as soon as she closed her eyes to attempt sleep. Sounds and words haunted her. Sounds like loud crashing, glass shattering, sirens wailing, medical equipment beeping.  Words like trauma, broken, crushed. _Paralysis_.  
  
She winced in pain as she pulled herself upright.  Her pelvis had shattered from the impact of the accident, both of her legs and left arm completely broken. She used her right hand to pull her blonde hair behind the her left ear and grimaced as she grazed stitches her in cheek.  

Quinn was staying in the Fabray home’s guest bedroom since it was on the first floor, making trips to the bathroom or kitchen easier.  Her mother had previously joked that it was more convenient this way as guests wouldn’t have to go traipsing through their household to visit her.  
  
Quinn remembered the way her mother nervously laughed at her own joke, edginess disguised in her voice.  She had been kind, though, and attempted to emulate Quinn’s bedroom in this new space. Her pageant tiaras were placed on the shelves around the room, black and white pictures of famous landmarks decorated the walls.  Frames holding pictures of Quinn’s friends were placed on the dresser, facing towards the bed.    
  
On the nightstand, wilted tiger lilies from her father stood in a crystal vase, fallen petals littering the carpet beneath.  Next to the vase was a brand new iphone still in the box, a replacement for her old phone.  An assortment of cards, gifts, and balloons filled in as decoration for the normally bland bedroom.  At first Quinn was pleased with the idea that so many cared for her, but the feeling had slowly turned to bitterness; the trinkets had anchored her to her painful reality.    
  
The clattering blinds and chirping birds were drowned out by a knock at the door.  

“Quinn?  Can I come in?” a faint voice called.  
  
“Yeah,” Quinn said, her voice strained.  The door creaked open and Santana peeked her head into the room and smiled.  Quinn sadly smiled and waved her in. She had noticed Santana’s eye lingered on the horrific black stitching that adorned her face.  When Quinn had first looked at her stitches in the mirror, she had noted that they crawled across her face like a leech in desperate search of her blood. She tried to ignore Santana’s gaze and ushered her closer.  
  
“Santana, hey, how are you?” Quinn asked as Santana strode over towards her bed.  
  
Even though the two girls had a rough start at the beginning of their senior year, Quinn was pleased that her and Santana had repaired their friendship; they _were_ besties for life, after all.  Despite the anger that coursed through her, Quinn was happy to see a familiar face.  
  
Santana laid the tote bag she was carrying on the floor as she gingerly sat at the foot of the bed, careful to avoid hitting Quinn’s leg casts.    
  
“I’m fine, just busy with school.  Cheerios practice has doubled since we’re heading to Nationals.  And, of course, Glee is getting intense for their upcoming Nationals. Well, more like Rachel is getting intense.  How about you, Quinn, how are you doing?” Santana asked, cautiously.

Quinn smirked and replied, “Couldn’t be better” with sarcasm thick in her voice. Santana scanned Quinn’s face with a look of compassion and her eyes edged her to continue.    “I’m doing better. My facial stitches have healed for the full two weeks, so I’m getting them out on Friday.  My arm cast can come off in four weeks, so at least I can look forward to being able to actually move a bit,” replied Quinn as she thumbed her cross necklace between her fingers.  
  
Santana sweetly smiled and gently patted Quinn’s shin over her cast. “I’m glad to hear that, Q.  We all really miss you at McKinley.”    
  
“I know, I miss you guys too. How’s everyone? Tina? Brittany?” Quinn asked.  She had avoided going on Facebook through her healing process.  The thought of reading countless messages of pity and sympathy caused feelings of repulsion to flow through her shattered body.

“Not much has changed, Rachel’s still controlling and Sue’s still crazy. Lemme think. Oh! Mercedes and Mike got accepted into the colleges they wanted.  I forget the names of the schools, but that’s still exciting for them. The set list for Nationals is going to be pretty sweet, too. That’s actually one of the reasons I came..”  
  
Santana trailed off as she reached for the tote bag on the floor.   “Here,” said Santana as she handed a thick stack of papers to Quinn. “These are all the songs we’re going to be singing.  Mr. Schue suggested I give you the music just in case if you’re better in time for Nationals.” __  
  
If you’re better. Quinn repeated Santana’s words in her mind as she sorted through the songs. Tears began to prick her eyes as the words and notes became blurred on the pages below.   “ _If_ I’m better?” questioned Quinn as she met Santana’s gaze.  A wave of panic flushed the brunette’s face.     
  
“Oh, no, Quinn. I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, tripping over her words. Santana moved closer to Quinn on the bed so she was sitting in the crook of her unbroken arm. “You know I didn’t mean that.”  Santana reached out and stroked Quinn’s hair softly.     
  
At this contact, the tears that had been welling in Quinn’s eyes were released and streamed down her face.  
  
“I know, I know. It’s just that...this isn’t fair.  I’d just been accepted into Yale and I was on my way out of this insignificant town.  I’ve dreamed of leaving Lima, erasing all chances of being a Lima Loser and now, my one chance has been ripped away from me.  I might miss my move-in day for residence, so I might not be able to move to Connecticut.  I keep replaying the whole accident in my mind and it just isn’t _fair_.”  
  
Santana leaned in and wiped away Quinn’s tears while grabbing her hand, the girl’s fingers interlocked.  
  
“You’re so strong, Quinn. You’ve been through so much in your life and you’ve fought through it all.  I’m proud of you, Q. We all are. You’ll be better in no time and killing it at Nationals with us.”    
  
Quinn weakly smiled amidst her small sobs. “Thanks.”    
  
She turned her gaze to the tiaras gleaming in the sunlight; the glistening jewels brought back memories of walking across pageant stages and accepting her reign as a beauty queen. A new flood of tears poured down her face.  She gently fingered the stitches in her cheek as she mumbled,  “I just want to be beautiful.”   
  
Santana clicked her tongue and cooed, “Quinn, you’ll always be beautiful.” She leaned in to give Quinn a soft embrace.   
  
A flood of emotion surged through Quinn as Santana came close.  Quinn extended her lips with the intention of lightly kissing Santana’s cheek in thanks.  Instead, she caught the corner of the other girl’s mouth.  Santana pulled away slowly, her eyes drifting the blonde’s lips.  Smoothly, she leaned in and faintly kissed Quinn.    
  
Instinctually, Quinn closed the space between their lips by pushing harder into the kiss.  She smiled into Santana’s mouth as the other girl threaded her hand through Quinn’s hair.  Quinn’s unbroken hand rubbed Santana’s side and slid onto her back, which caused Santana to be pulled closer.     Santana pulled away and kissed down her cheek, Quinn’s tears absorbed against her lips.  She pulled back to look Quinn in the eyes, her hand still entwined in the blonde locks.  
  
“You’re beautiful, Quinn. No matter what,” she smiled as she kissed Quinn’s forehead.  “I should be going, I’ve got a history test to study for. I’ll come back in a couple days, k?” Santana stood up, her tote bag in hand.  She gave a quick wave as she shut the door behind her.    
  
Quinn leaned against her pillow and smiled as thoughts of her dancing across the Nationals stage filled her mind. She glanced at the sheet music and hummed the opening bars to the first song.  Content, she closed her eyes as the sounds of robins singing and the soft wind lulled her to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Concrit only, please and thank you.


End file.
